RWBY Pallet Canvas Chapter One
by Andriarno
Summary: <html><head></head>A 17 year old soon to be huntress in training arrives at Beacon Academy ready to take the first step on a long journey. Pallet Canvas has the ability to change her appearance at will and makes a few enemies, a friend, and an acquaintance on her first day before taking her pet eagle Tearaway for a flight over Beacon. Written in first person with OC characters and cameos.</html>


Hi, my names Pallet Canvas, the T is silent, and I'm going to be a huntress. Okay so it probably won't happen overnight and I know it's going to be a hard thing, to, do, wait, ok, let me start over. Hi, I'm Pallet Canvas and I'm going to become a huntress. I've just turned seventeen and I'm on my way to Beacon, a combat school in Vale, where I'm going to begin my training. I spent all last night packing my stuff, so much so that I couldn't sleep, weapons, clothes, and my pet eagle Tearaway. I tied my brown hair into a ponytail with a fringe and bangs before stepping on the airship that left from downtown Vale where I live. I should probably point out what my semblance allows me to change my appearance at will, not clothes mind but, hair colour, eye colour and facial features I can manage. It's especially useful for when I have an acne breakout.

I stand looking out one of the airships view holes at the city below taking it all in. Everything looks so small from up here. I put one of my hands on the glass and position my finger nails so that my the clouds in the distance are partially over the tips of my nails. I allow my semblance to activate and my nails become the image of the sky and clouds, cheaper than a beautician and one hundredth of the time right? I admire them for a second before realising the skin on my index finger that surrounds my nail has also turned blue! A quick fix however and everything seems to be on the up and up. I lower my hands and let out a sigh, knowing that my destiny is growing closer, I think about my mum and dad who I left behind at the air ship port. I won't see them for the next few months, the most I had ever been away before was a week when I visited Atlas three years ago with my friend Bishop who went on to join another combat school in Atlas, and now while I'm alone I get to think about that. Thankfully my contemplation is sharply pulled away by a boy behind me throwing up into a bin. Way to ruin the moment…

He starts running behind me as he retches and I try to ignore him. I gave him a glance and noticed he was a tall boy with blonde hair and blue eyes and was wearing a dark hoodie with armour plates and blue jeans. I roll my eyes and turn to walk away from the window to the snack car. I pick up Tearaways cage from the ground and he squawks because I almost made him lose his balance.

"Sorry Tearaway" I say as I look down to him. I reach the snack bar, which was being guarded by an old lady with grey hair with purple tips, I stopped in front of her and examined the chocolate bars, fruit, and ready meals displayed in front of me.

"See anything you like?" she asked softly. I didn't answer I just reached out for a can of People Like Grapes soft drink and a slice of eagle breast. Tearaway squawked again below me and I drop the eagle breast.

"I guess eating eagle isn't L-eagle" the old lady said with a smile. I couldn't help but laugh at the pun.

"That's funny" I state, "He keeps me in check" I explain.

"Might I recommend this" she said moving her hand across to a chocolate bar. I nod and she picks up the chocolate before passing it to me.

"That'd be three Lien" the old lady says as I stumble the can and bar in my hands trying to reach my handbag.

The outfit I had settled on consisted of a white dress with gold trims and ruffles in my combat skirt. The half sleeves stopped at my elbows with gold bands that matched the white arm guards on my forearms, as they had a gold trim too, that had been infused with dust the magical power fuel of Remnant. My legs were exposed down from the combat skirt down to my gold ankle boots showing off a few semblance tattoos that ran down the backs of my thighs and the front of my left shin. The tattoos on my thighs included two blue bows with a few small animals and flowers surrounding them while the front of my shin was a black tribal shape with the head of an eagle atop it.

I figured out, after an embarrassing amount of time, that if I put down the can I could gain access to my hand bag and my Lien. I paid for my chocolate bar and my soft drink before stepping back with Tearaway allowing the students behind me to buy their snacks. By this point the airship was going coming into land at Beacon. I could tell, even though I wasn't near a window now, by the increase of vibrations from the ships massive engines as the ship stabilised so I moved across to the exit hoping to be the first one off the airship.

The airships door opened automatically onto a draw bridge that connected the ship to Beacons forecourt. I was the first girl to step down into the ships entrance slash exit, I would say the first person but the blonde kid was already ahead of me being sick into a trashcan, the door opened and Beacon was revealed in front of me. It was even bigger than I thought it would have been! Humongous towers, arches, the communication tower all touched the horizon ahead of me. I stood in awe for a few too many seconds as another aspiring huntress pushed past me knocking my shoulder as she did.

"Hey!" I called as I stumbled, but before I could say anything else a boy pushed me again knocking me over completely.

"Watch it" the boy said as he glanced back at me down on the ground.

The girl looked at Beacon from the end of the bridge as she waited for the boy to stand beside her. They girl was wearing a white long sleeved jacket and black leggings. She also had long blue hair tied into two pig tails stretching down to just below her elbows. The boy was wearing a similar jacket, be it a bit less tight, black trousers and a blue cap. He had short white hair pulled down under his cap into a side swept fringe covering one of his blue eyes.

"We made it Violet" the boy said. so her name is Violet, I need to avoid her, I thought to myself as I picked myself up from the ground.

"We haven't made it yet Porfirio" she stated coldly, "We make it, when we become the best brother sister huntsman huntress duo"

"Right" he said nodding his head as he did.

"Hey!" I shouted without even thinking, "Do you mind?" I ask gesturing to the ground where I had been knocked down to.

"Not at all" Violet spoke allowing the left side of her lip to curl into a smirk.

"Watch where you're going" I say venting my frustration, Tearaway obviously picked up on it and started squawking in his cage and flapping his wings.

"Aww, looks like you brought a chicken to Beacon" Porfirio said pointing to Tearaway and laughing.

"Perhaps you'd like to get a closer look" I spat back reaching down and picking up his cage.

"No thanks" Violet said as she held up her hand in front of her brother. "We're here to fight monsters not you"

"I wouldn't mind" I say hoping to claim a bit more respect as a hot head from the few other students watching.

"Please" Violet said calmly, "Come Porfirio" she said as she started walking towards Beacon and away from me and Tearaway. Porfirio backed away from me and the group of students.

I heard a few students sigh and start conversations about who would've won as they disperse from around me and Tearaway.

"They're pretty rude" a voice said behind me. I expected it to be vomit boy from the ship but luckily it wasn't. I turned and looked at a boy with red hair and green eyes standing holding a selection of comic books under his armpit. He was wearing green shorts and a white shirt with a trident strapped to his back.

"Yeah" I say as I brush my dress down.

"I'm Reign" he says offering his hand out to shake mine. I accept the handshake and take note on how firm he grasps my hand.

"Pallet" I say with a nod, "And this is Tearaway" I raise Tearaways cage to my head level and look at my eagle.

"Pallet?" he asks as he ignores Tearaway.

"Yeah?" I respond, "It's spelt with a T but its silent" I explain. I often get asked about my name since it only just connects to a colour, be it all the colours, which was a trend set into Remnant after the Great War came to an end years ago.

"Okay" Reign said awkwardly, "Do you want to walk up to the hall together?" he asks. I take a few seconds to try and understand why he would want to accompany me but eventually I realise it's because of my display with Violet and Porfirio.

I know, as does every student attending Beacon, that we will be put into teams for the duration of our stay at Beacon. Because of this everyone was sizing everyone up, well at least I was and I think Reign is, as they approached the school. I tried to examine him in a quick glance, his arms were big but not gigantic, his trident was clearly a weapon that needed an understanding of combat, hopefully he wasn't wearing his combat clothes right now since t shirt and shorts wouldn't fare well against a Beowulf or a nevermore. I then realise that I'm taking too long to respond to Reign.

"Of course" I say almost stumbling over my words as I did. Reign and myself walk across the foreyard and into the school grounds each getting to know each other as we exchange questions and answers.

"So, where are you from?" I ask

"Vacuo" Reign answers, "You?"

"Vale" I answer.

"So, you're a first year right?" he asks.

"Yup, just turned seventeen" I answer. I realise at this point that these half-hearted answers are either going to push him away or reach a point when I'll walk away and Reign could be a valuable team mate in the future. "I've been planning to come to Beacon since I was thirteen" I take the leap of faith and share my life story, "My mum was trained here too so I guess I have a connection here"

"That's cool" Reign says, "I actually come from a long line of farmers. I'm breaking a chain of generations by becoming a huntsman" he takes a breath in as if he was preparing to tell me something but he trails off.

I manage to start up another conversation before we walk into the hall but we both stop talking as we take in the splendour of the hall. The mass of first year students grew in front of us as we looked around. There's so many people I think as I look around, there's so many huntsmen and huntresses, and some of them look like they could break me in half. I'm only nine and a half stone and about five foot six in comparison to a man sized boy in front of me who looks about six foot seven and fifteen stone.

"This is amazing" I just about hear Reign say beside me amongst the sea of the other students voices.

"Didn't you go to a combat school?" I ask since Beacons hall looks very similar to the combat school I attended since I was fourteen.

"Nah, my parents would never have allowed it, I used to train with this guy from the mountains in secret" he explains, "I passed the assessments though don't worry" he turns and smiles at me.

"What's your semblance?" I ask.

"I can control water" he answers, "You?" I don't get a chance to answer him as Professor Ozpin walks out onto the main stage and coughs into the microphone. The room falls silent around us as he begins his opening speech.

"I'll...keep this brief. You have travelled here today in search of knowledge-to hone your craft and acquire new skills-and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose-direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step" he says before walking off to the left using his cane to balance himself. he was wearing the same outfit h had worn when he came to oversee my assessment a few weeks earlier, a dark green suit with black scarf, however he seemed distracted right now. I heard a few other students talk about the dismissiveness of the professor but silence quickly reasserted itself as the deputy stepped to the mic for her speech.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed" she stated before walking after Ozpin. I haven't had a chance to meet the deputy before but I noticed her white blouse and black skirt with tights and calf boots. She also wore a black cape with purple insides that went well with her blonde hair.

More murmurs stirred from the other students as Reign and myself looked around for some kind of inspiration as to what we were supposed to do next. Tearaway squawked beside me and spread his wings indicating that he wanted to go for a fly.

"He's getting restless" I told Reign, "I'm gunna give him a chance to stretch his wings, if you wanna come too?" I asked. I usually flew Tearaway alone but I usually wasn't on the verge of forming a partnership that would last the entirety of my school life.

"Sure" Reign said happily as he dropped down to eye level with Tearaway, "Do you wanna go for a fly? Do you? Do you?" he asked in a voice that made it sound as if he was talking to a baby.

"Uh, he won't appreciate that" I point out, "He's pretty proud"

"Serious?" he asks but I don't need to respond as Tearaway lets out a screech directed at Reign before flapping his wings. Reign fell backwards onto his bottom much to my amusement, I couldn't help but giggle,

"Told you" I say.

Thirty minutes later we were stood outside the schools forecourt together. I had placed Tearaways cage beside me on the ground and he was pecking at the doors hinges.

"He's… energetic" Reign states as he stares at Tearaway.

"Just, give me a sec" I say before kneeling in front of the cage. I know Reign is still looking at me but what I need to tell Tearaway is important, "Tearaway, you promise me you won't do anything to Reign" I ask more as an order. He stops stretching his wings and pecking the door and looks at me twisting his head as he did. At least he was listening. "Good enough" I say before unhooking the doorway. The door swings open and Tearaway steps through the doorway and flaps his way into the sky. I stand back up and watch as Tearaway swoops and climbs around Beacons buildings.

"He's… vengeful" I start to explain, "He has a history of…" my voice trails off as I try and find a way to phrase it appropriately. Before I find the right words I watch as Tearaway plummets down towards me and Reign, I squint as he uses the sun to blind us to his approach,

"Move!" I shout and in a fraction of a second push Reign to the ground and dive after him.

He both hit the ground together with me slightly overlaying over him as two splats are heard hitting beside us.

"What, are you doing" Reign asks slowly.

"It was a faeces attack" I say as I prop myself back up into a sitting position and off Reigns thigh.

"A" Reign starts but struggles to find the next word in the sentence.

"You patronized him" I explain as I look up and track him across the sky once again. "At least it's out of his system now"

"Good to know…" he responds. I could tell now that his intention to team up with me was weaning. After all who wants to team up with a girl whose pet throws poop at them?

I try to think of something to bring him back to my side but I can't think of a redeeming quality fast enough. Reign stands up and starts to walk away.

"See you around" he says dismissively. Now I really did start to panic, if we have to choose team mates now I'll have to choose between the two bitchy siblings since they're the only other students I know, I finally clicked onto something that might bring him back.

"Flying!" I yell awkwardly but it was enough to make him stop and look back at me.

"Huh?" he sounds.

"Tearaway, if he comes down we can fly on him together, take a tour of Beacon" I point out.

"He's a little small isn't he?" Reign asks. In fact Tearaway is a rare breed of eagle, so rare that only seventeen exist in t world, he's capable of changing his size between the usual two foot height and a ten foot tall giant eagle.

I found Tearaways egg when I was ten when I had ran away from home to join a combat school, even though I knew I was too young and they wouldn't accept me, in Vale. I found myself underneath a bridge in the industrial sector too hard headed to admit my fault and return home alone. It was raining, a lot, that night and I had taken shelter under the bridge until the storm passed. I heard a dog barking and a bird screeching in the distance but didn't give it much thought while I practiced using my semblance to change my fingernails for fun. All of a sudden the eagle stopped screeching and I heard the paws of the dog splashing in the rain as he ran towards the bridge. The dog was a small brown mess of a creature, it had been a stray for at least a few months by the looks of it, but it stopped and looked at me. I could see it had an egg in its mouth and it was panting heavily. It must have stolen the egg from the eagle's nest I realised. I watched as the dog tried to pierce the shell with its fangs for a few minutes trying to reach the yolk inside as I sat with my back against the wall facing the canal. After a while the gnawing sound got on my nerves and I approached the dog.

"Give it here" I said, "I'm not going to steal it from you, let me crack it open for you" I slowly crouched down and reached out to take the egg. The dog growled at first but thanks to persistence I finally managed to stroke him and relieve him of the egg. I examined it for about a minute in my hands rubbing it and taking in the golden spots around the white shell. I guess Tearaway reacted to the heat from my hands inside the egg as all of the sudden he started pecking his way through the shell. I had read about birds before and knew that I shouldn't help them break out of their shells since this was the first test of their strength. I also knew that birds imprinted on the first creature they see once they hatch. The dog had sat up beside me and was trying to see what was happening in my hands. I was forced to raise my hands to keep the dog away from the hatchling as he started barking wanting his chew toy back again. The chicks head poked out right in front of my eyes and he began chirping towards me with his eyes closed.

"Hello" I said softly as I picked a piece of egg shell off his head. The chick chirped some more and slowly opened his eyes and looked at me locking us together forever.

"I guess I'll call you Tearaway" I said, "Since I had to tear you away from him" I look down at the dog beside me who was now sat down with his mouth open and tongue hanging out.

"You're telling me you own a Size Shifter?" Reign asks suspiciously.

"I wouldn't say own, but he's my partner yes" I respond.

"Okay, I'm interested, let's do it" Reign announces. I nod my head and hold out my forearm for Tearaway to land on.

"You'll have to go through a little bit of a ceremony" I explain while I wait for Tearaway to land, "Just

an introduction, to show your respect"

"Okay, great, I've only ever read about them" Reign says enthusiastically. Tearaway landed on my forearm causing me to rock under his weight. He tucks in his wings and bobs his head before squawking at Reign.

"Don't worry" I say to comfort both Tearaway and Reign. I reach inside my handbag and pull out a small piece of chicken for Tearaway to eat. He quickly gobbles the meat down and allows me to pat his head.

"So cool" Reign says.

"You need to bow to him" I say, "Then you can stroke him"

"Really?" Reign asks rhetorically before letting one leg backwards and bowing down. Tearaway doesn't notice him at first so I have to point Reign out to him.

"Oi" I say before rocking my head to point him out. Tearaway finally notices Reign and examines him.

"How long do I do this for?" Reign whispers but before I can answer Tearaway jumps from my forearm and onto Reigns shoulder making him flinch. "Pallet" he says sounding panicked.

"It's okay" I giggle, "He likes you, now" I say as he stands up properly still with Tearaway on his shoulder.

"Tearaway, can we go for a flight?" I ask my partner pulling his attention back from Reigns left ear. He bobs his head and drops down onto the ground beside Reign before he starts to glow and grow. Luckily the forecourt was empty otherwise Tearaway would've drawn quite a crowd. Reign disappeared in front of me and suddenly appeared behind me using me as a human shield.

"It's okay" I say as he grabs my shoulders and stares at the twelve foot tall eagle in front of me. I step forwards, leaving Reign alone and picking up the cage as it folds up into a single metal bar for transport, and reach out to touch Tearaways beak. He lowers his head and allows me to rub his beak and then his forehead. I turn back and gesture for Reign to join us. he reluctantly does and very slowly touches Tearaways beak.

"Okay, ready to fly?" I ask them both. Tearaway lowers his head to the ground and ducks his neck down as he have dozens of times before.

"I, I dunno?" Reign says.

"What happened to that confidence?" I ask as I move around and step over Tearaways neck and take my seat. Reign shakes his head as if he was an anime character shaking himself back into a state of confidence.

"Right, let's do it" he says as he steps over Tearaways neck and sits behind me. I notice him wrapping his arms around my lower torso loosely at first but when Tearaway raised his head his grip tightened almost squeezing the air out of my body.

"Ready?" I ask over my shoulder.

"Ready" Reign responds.

"Okay, let's go Tearaway" I say as I tap the sides of the giant eagles neck with my boots. Tearaway bounces forwards before stretching out his wings and flapping them to take off.

"Whoaaaaa!" Reign shouted directly into my ear as we lifted up from the ground and above the buildings that surrounded Beacon. Reign continued squealing as we reached what I judged to be two hundred feet off the ground. I gave Tearaway a pat just below his ear to signal him to stop climbing and he obeyed. As we stabled out Reign loosened his grip and took in the view of Beacon. I could see a few students outside the school pointing at us from the ground.

"What do you think?" I ask as I look over my shoulder back to Reign.

"It's pretty amazing" he responds.

"Watch this" I say as I lean to the left on Tearaways neck signalling for him to swoop down to the left.

Tearaway turned to the left and descended towards Beacon. The wind rushed through our hair as we swung underneath one of the arches, Tearaway spread his wings, and we then glided towards the main hall once again. We must be travelling at thirty miles an hour as Tearaway tilted his left wing tip higher and then his left wing tip higher as he manoeuvred between the structures. We had practiced flying hundreds of times before and I learnt, fairly quickly, that Tearaways instincts are a lot better and faster than mine and so I learnt to trust him.

I spotted the main hall in front of us approaching fast.

"Tearaway!?" I call out to Tearaway but he doesn't seem to hear me. I guess Reign heard me call out to Tearaway as he quickly grasps his arms around me tightly once again. I spot Tearaways wings tucking in around us as he becomes a bullet zooming towards the main hall.

"Tearaway!" I call out again as we come within forty something feet of the entrance. Tearaway quickly spread his wings out and pushed his head up in front of us pushing himself into the air. I get the feeling that Tearaways stomach just scratched the top of the main hall as he flapped over the dome top of the building. I couldn't help but laugh as Reign almost had a panic attack behind me as Tearaway stabled out into a glide as we moved towards Vale.

"It's okay" I say to Reign.

"He won't do that again will he?" he asks still tightly hugging my stomach.

"He was just showing off" I say trying to help Reign relax.

"Okay" he says slowly as he unties his arms and leans back from me. "Is that Vale?" he asks as he points down at the city below before quickly snapping his hand back to Tearaways neck.

"Yeah" I yell back as I take the control of Tearaway and start him on a circle flight path above Vale.

We flew above Vale for about an hour before heading back to Beacon. Reign and I talked for the whole hour, with only a few luls, about our families, weapons, creatures of grim, and the history of Vale.

Tearaway landed on one of the balconies outside the ball room, Reign and I jumped down from his neck, then I pulled out the metal bar from my back. I snap the cage open and lower it onto the ground. A girl in a white nightie and slippers walks out onto the balcony and looks at Tearaway as he returns to his more manageable size. I turn to look at her as Tearaway hops back inside his cage, she had white hair tied in a ponytail and blue eyes, while she stood looking at the three of us with her hands on her hips.

"Uh, hi" Reign says with a single wave.

"A size shifter" the white haired girl stated looking at Tearaway, "Native to Vale and Atlas, I thought they were extinct"

"Uh, nope, he's still alive" I say to correct her, "I'm Pallet" I offer my hand out to her as I step closer. She is at first taken back by this but after a few seconds she takes my hand.

"I'm Wiess" she says.

"Wiess Shnee?" Reign asks from behind me, "Heiress to the Shnee dust company?"

"That's right" Wiess answers, I instantly tell that something bugged her about Reign recognising her, whether it was due to the instant connection to her last names company or what I couldn't tell.

"You know, a size shifter could be a useful addition to any team, if you're still looking for team mates Pallet" she enquires.

"I, uh" I stumble out but am unable to finish, sure I had heard stories about Wiess Shnee and her sister Winter from the other students about how good of a fighter she is, "I think I'll be partnering up with Reign" I manage to say. I look back at my new red haired friend and smile, he returns the smile with a nod, after we exchange our smiles I look back at Wiess. Her expression didn't hint at any clues to what she was thinking inside. Instead she acted proper and nodded.

"If you change your mind, let me know" she said as she walked back into the ball room, arms swinging matching her accelerated pace, "Oh, and we want to have a good night's sleep before our induction tomorrow, so, keep it down" she calls before disappearing around the corner.

I closed Tearaways cage and stood up looking at Reign. He was staring at me with a smile stretched from ear to ear.

"What?" I asked, she snickered trying to contain some kind of misdirected laughter, "What?!" I say a bit louder than before.

"Friend" he said in a stupid high pitched voice. "Size shifter friend ,team friend" he continued.

"Is this some kind of Vacuo based joke?" I ask as I pick up Tearaways cage to bring him inside.

"Friend" he says again. This time I don't acknowledge it and instead walk into the ball room and head over to one of the free sleeping spots. Unfortunately for me there was a spot for Reign beside me…

Note from the writer,

Well you reached the end of the first chapter, thanks for reading, so I thought I'd just explain why I'm writing RWBY fan fiction. Obviously you don't have to keep reading but if you want to feel free. So I discovered Roosterteeth around four years ago, when Tex was beating up the reds and blues in season 8, and since then I think I've watched everything they've put out. RT have been a big influence on me getting back into writing, I haven't done any creative writing since I was in school around seven years ago when I was taking G.C.S.E English hopefully it doesn't show that much, they helped me realise that normal people make movies and stories in general instead of just Hollywood elite. I have been working on my own OC universe for the last year but haven't managed to finish any of the projects as of yet. When I'm out with friends I tell them about the story ideas I have and one friend recommended trying some fan fiction to see if people like the way I tell stories and if I'm still as good as I think I was in years ten and eleven. So, with RT being an influence, I decided to write some RWBY stuff that hopefully doesn't intrude too much on the cannon just to see if people like what I create. I also tried writing it in the first person just as an experiment as I'm currently reading the Hunger Games, which is in first person, and it's a pretty interesting take on a narrative I wanted to try myself. I hope to keep this fan fiction up and work on chapter two some time soon, which would take place in the Emerald Forest, and if people like it obviously.

Thanks again for reading.

Andriarno


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